No snoozing: Yankees pull all-nighter, beat Reds 10-4
CINCINNATI: Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday homered and Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka won his fifth consecutive start as the New York Yankees shook off a long game and a short night’s sleep, beating Cincinnati 10-4 in Major League Baseball on Monday for their sixth victory in a row.
The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 21-9 and are 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.
Their biggest challenge was overcoming the fatigue from an 18-inning, 5-4 win at Wrigley Field early Monday. The Yankees did not land in the Cincinnati area until 5:08 a.m., and the sun was up when some of them finally fell asleep. Players sipped caffeinated drinks and yawned in the clubhouse pregame.
Orioles 6, Nationals 4: Trey Mancini capped a three-homer binge in the first inning against Gio Gonzalez as Baltimore beat Washington for its season-high fifth straight victory.
Kevin Gausman (2-3) limited baseball’s most potent offense to two runs over seven innings. He retired the first 10 batters and struck out eight in his longest outing of the year.
Joey Rickard hit a leadoff homer and Mark Trumbo added a solo shot before Mancini connected with a runner on to make it 4-0. The Orioles hold a 37-24 advantage over their neighboring rivals in the so-called “Beltway Series,” which began in 2006.
Blue Jays 4, Indians 2: Marcus Stroman pitched six shutout innings and Kevin Pillar made a sensational catch in center field as Toronto beat Cleveland in a playoff rematch.
Ryan Goins hit a two-run homer and Justin Smoak added a two-run single as the Blue Jays beat the team that eliminated them from last year’s AL Championship Series.
Former Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who signed a $60 million, threeyear contract with Cleveland last winter, received a warm welcome and a video tribute in his return to Toronto. Encarnacion got a standing ovation before his first at-bat and went 2 for 3 with a walk.
Royals 7, Rays 3: Nate Karns struck out 10 while pitching into the seventh inning and Eric Hosmer had three hits as Kansas City busted out of an offensive slump to beat Tampa Bay.
Kansas City matched its best-run output of the year and set a season high with 13 hits. Drew Butera homered and drove in his first two runs of the season, helping the Royals win for the fourth time in 17 games.
Mets 4, Giants 3: Neil Walker hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth inning as the New York Mets put turmoil aside to beat reeling San Francisco.
Michael Conforto scored for New York’s first walk-off win this season, giving the Mets their seventh victory in 10 games. Jeurys Familia (1-0) needed just five pitches in a perfect ninth, finishing a five-hitter started by Jacob deGrom, who struck out 11 in six innings.